1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nano size-gap electrode device in which two electrodes adjoin each other with a nano size-gap having a width less than several nanometers (nm) interposed there between, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a nano size-gap electrode device, in which a nano size-gap may be easily controlled in position and distance and a plurality of nano size-gaps with a repeated structure may be concurrently formed.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As information telecommunication technology continues to develop, an amount of transmittable information is increasing exponentially, and a degree of integration of a semiconductor device for processing the exponentially growing information is also increasing. In conventional art, the degree of integration of a semiconductor device increases in a top-down method in which size and line width are reduced by improving the resolution of a photolithography process, but it has become difficult to continue applying the top-down method due to process difficulty and cost increase. Accordingly, a nano molecular device for overcoming this limitation and enhancing cost efficiency has been developed, and in recent years, a molecular device manufactured by using a bottom-up method has been proposed.
Unlike a conventional semiconductor device based on silicon, the molecular device uses an electron transport phenomenon accomplished through molecules having a length less than several nanometers. The molecular device is rising as next generation technology since it can realize a highly integrated, high-speed circuit at low cost. The molecular device requires external electrodes connected to both ends in order to evaluate an electrical characteristic. For this, it is essential to realize an electrode device having at least a pair of electrodes which are spaced each other by a nano size-gap corresponding to a molecular length less than several nanometers.
A conventional nano size-gap electrode device is manufactured by using a method in which a specific part of a metal line already formed is cut by mechanical stress or electromigration, or a method in which a gap having a width of hundreds of nanometers is primarily formed by using an electron-beam lithography technique and then an electrode material is additionally deposited on surfaces of two electrodes interposing the gap using an electrochemical deposition method, to reduce the width of the gap. However, not only do these methods involve complex processes, but they do not enable precise control of the width and position of the gap, and they exhibit poor reproducibility and reliability. Further, they are unable to provide a plurality of nano size-gaps having the same structure, shape and width simultaneously, and therefore are not ideally suitable for the manufacture of a molecular electronic circuit.